Compact Fig growing?

Hi,

I'd like to grow a fig tree but don't have the wall space to train as a fan. Is it easy to successfully grow a fig more as a standard in a container, or will it need support? I was wondering if the container might handily restrict the size of the plant, or if it will just continue to grow and grow but not be able to get enough nutrients to thrive.
I saw this just now and wondered if this kind of compact variety might be a good solution. I'm guessing at up to 2m max size it wouldn't need training along a wall? But would this variety over-winter in Yorks do you think? My options would be to wrap in fleece or put in a dark brick shed over winter - no option that allows for light and indoors protection....unless it would enjoy the living room?!

Thanks for any help you can offer, Andy

 

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That sounds good. Would it be ok over-winter in the dark though? I'm guessing not...so that would mean fleece rather than dark shed.
And would you be able to recommend a particular variety for container growing? I'm guessing that compact one in the link might do ok in a decent sized pot?

 

I have had a fig in a dustbin sized pot for years. Its roots must be well-crammed in by now so I have to be careful with watering. It no longer grows much so I'm guessing it has run out of nutrients, although I do feed it. I don't really hold with this root-restriction stuff being good for fruiting, I'm sure it would prefer some nice fertile soil. Perfectly hardy here in the Midlands. I don't attempt to train it, I just cut to the size available. It doesn't give much of a crop - it overwinters young figs which mainly drop off in the Spring, not sure if this is preventable or not. Sometimes it has ripened a fig which has then fallen off before I've been able to eat it. It makes a handsome pot plant, though.

 

I'm sure a pot grown fig would survive in a dark shed once the leaves have fallen and as long as its cold enough to keep it dormant,would need to be moved out at the first signs of growth though, and that could be a problem should you get any late frost.
Having said that, they pretty much hardy and would only need protection should it be severe frost.

I've just nipped out and taken a picture of mine, you can, I hope, see the figs that will grow on this year and the ones that will drop off, the larger ones wont overwinter, and fall off, the tiny ones nearer the tips of the shoots with grow on and ripen in the summer.

 

Yours looks like a very handsome fellow!

Sounds like I could over-winter it in the shed and then bring it out at the first sign of growth, using fleece for a few weeks at night maybe, just in case of late frosts?

Space dictates I'm going to have to go for a compact variety and I've just seen that Carica at £9.99 on another site so I reckon I'll give that a go. Can I stick it straight into the large pot it will end up in, or should I start it in a smaller one and pot on every year?
Is there a reliable way of working out what final pot size fruiting trees and bushes need, or is it just guesswork? Cheers :-)

 

Difficult to say about pot size, I would assume its best if its an ongoing thing, final pot size, I dont think there is any such thing really, I always think most plants grown in pots only have a limited time before they start to struggle.
They are pretty hardy though and you might not need the shed treatment.

 

Yes, that's the perfect solution. If the pot/plant is sufficiently "mobile" you can stick it back in the shed (even for a few days) if we get a cold snap in spring (after the buds have started to break).

FWIW here's my advice: DO NO BUY THE £9.99 ONE

Research what will grow well "dwarf" and in a container, and then buy the one that you think will have the best flavour (sadly that will most probably be one that is somewhat less hardy). If you can eat one, of that variety, before you buy it then so much the better.

The plant is going to reward you with lots of £10's worth of fruit during its lifetime, the initial cost is not the main consideration. The most you will pay for a plant variety "of your dreams" is probably £20, maybe only £15 ... it is just not worth saving that because it is in Lidl for a couple of quid - that one will be a rubbish variety, on the wrong dwarfing rootstock, and probably already half-dead from being uprooted and stored in a plastic bag for weeks before you buy it compared to buying one direct from a specialist nursery (who will also be able to answer your questions & give you all the advice you could possibly need)

Just my two-pennith

 

Thanks Kristen, my keen-ness to go for that 9.99 one was more about being eager to get something ordered and planted before it's too late rather than frugality, but what you're saying makes sense so I guess waiting until the weekend when I have time to do some reading up is not going to make all that much difference. Sound advice, thanks :-)

 

My understanding of growing woody plants in pots is to start with a smallish pot and transplant to a bigger pot every couple years till you get to the desired size rather than just planting in the large pot. This is to avoid of the condition called 'pot bound' by getting the roots to develop throughout the container rather than just rushing to the outer barrier of the pot and then begin circling round and round.

When you buy a potted tree or bush lift it from the pot and see if the roots are in a solid coil against the pot - it will not thrive, and die in a few years, if this is the case. You need to break apart a root coil, cut and spread them out before transplanting.

 

Thanks for the tip :-)

 

Fruit trees in pots are great things. Perhaps a grape too? They can be whacked back when the leaves drop to just a bare trunk 3 foot long - then kept in the shed till time to leaf out. Also the way to get them is those cheap dry rooted ones. They do not want good soil and lush conditions.